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In India, preschool education has expanded from the Montessori method to include Playway, Reggio Emilio and Waldorf teaching methods. The fastest-growing appears to be Playway -- a child-centric instructional method that focuses on learning through play. "No one teaching method is the correct one, but each has something special about it. So, we try to combine the best from each philosophy so that kids can learn and have fun," said Shreena Doshi, director of Big Umbrella, Tardeo.

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A growing number of Chinese families are choosing to enrol their children in independently run schools that use the Waldorf, Montessori or Reggio Emilia instructional models. The draw, families say, is the so-called softer approach to education than can be found in the country's state-run schools. Some families, however, are reluctant to make the switch, concerned that their children's success on national exams will be jeopardised.

The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District in California has plans to open a new early-childhood center that will provide diagnostic and treatment services to young children with developmental delays. The center also will operate as a preschool and use the Reggio Emilia education method.

A review published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that an nonregimented and child-focused approach to toilet training helped children at the age of 18 months achieve daytime continence by 28.5 months, while a parent-focused strategy took only 4.5 hours. But the researcher said the evidence is insufficient to favor one method over another, although the AAP and other pediatricians' group recommend a child-centric approach beginning at about 18 months old.

Harvard University professor Howard Gardner praises the preschools in Reggio Emilia, a city in northeastern Italy, for their imaginative approach to learning as a group activity. He says the schools, which have engaged children in such activities as exploring fax machines and building bird amusement parks, successfully allow preschoolers to follow their own interests while teachers introduce new ideas and materials.

The "Reggio" curriculum, begun after WWII in the Italian town of child-care specialist Reggio Emilia, places a heavy emphasis on students' observations and ideas. It lets students' individual talents guide their work in beautiful surroundings. Some Southern California districts have begun "Reggio"-style schools in affluent neighborhoods. Emilia's preschools were named best in the world by Newsweek in 1991.